Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has claimed that the suspect in last week's shooting of two National Guard members near the White House was 'radicalised since he's been here in this country' after arriving from Afghanistan in September 2021. Her remarks have intensified political debate over refugee vetting and immigration policy in the wake of the attack.
Officials identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the US as part of Operation Allies Welcome following the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Lakanwal was granted asylum earlier this year by the Trump administration. The CIA confirmed that he had previously worked with the US government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar that ended in 2021 after the US withdrawal.
Asylum Pause and Casualties
Since Wednesday's shooting, the Trump administration has ordered all asylum applications paused, according to an internal directive obtained by CBS News and two sources familiar with the order. Noem said on NBC's Meet the Press: 'We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we're going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him,' though she provided no further details.
The attack unfolded near the White House when a gunman opened fire on National Guard members stationed in Washington. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died on Thursday, while Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalised. The suspect was shot by a Guard member and is also hospitalised. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed he faces murder charges.
The Vetting Debate
On ABC's This Week, Noem suggested the suspect was not thoroughly vetted before entering the US. 'What they did was check a few names and a few data points,' she alleged. 'But what President Trump has put in place now for vetting is biometric information, checking social media platforms, communications, contacts, matching updates of service that was never done under Joe Biden. He didn't do that. In fact, he brought people to this country and then just said, well, we'll vet them later.'
The White House has blamed policies of former President Joe Biden's administration for allowing Lakanwal to enter the US. Samantha Vinograd, a top counterterrorism official in the Obama administration and a current CBS News contributor, countered on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan that there are no indications the 'horrific tragedy was a result of a vetting failure'.
'Let's be clear on what the vetting system is and it isn't,' Vinograd said. 'The vetting system is a system in which an individual's identifiers—their biographic information, iris scans, fingerprints, facial images—are run against data sets of information about individuals with ties to terrorism and criminal history. The vetting system is not predicative of whether an individual with no derogatory information is or is not going to become violent.'
Vinograd added that every Afghan refugee underwent vetting overseas before being cleared to enter the US, and then they were vetted again by the Biden administration. She said the suspect also underwent the 'most comprehensive vetting' under the Trump administration to receive asylum.
🚩 Sec. Kristi Noem on Whether the National Guard Shooting Suspect Acted Alone
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 30, 2025
“We believe he was radicalized since he's been here in this country. We do believe it was through connections in his home, community and state. And we're going to continue to talk to those who… pic.twitter.com/yQX2hZXIEW
Policy Response
Since the shooting, the White House has introduced restrictive immigration measures. On Thursday, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services director ordered, at President Trump's direction, a 'full scale, rigorous reexamination' of green card cases involving nationals affected by a presidential proclamation that fully or partially suspended travel and immigration from 19 countries.
The case has sharpened debate over vetting and accountability. Noem's assertion that the suspect was 'radicalised since he's been here' sits alongside expert testimony that the vetting system cannot predict future violence where no derogatory information exists. With asylum decisions paused and green card cases under review, the policy response is already reshaping the landscape for refugees and immigrants while the case moves forward through the courts.
